I have a theory as to one reason (of many) the England National Team tends to underperform in major tournaments: the players all play in the same league. Every England international plays in the Premier League. One might argue this breeds familiarity and is therefore good for the national team, but I think it leads to a lack of stylistic variety in the team and makes the payer pool stagnant. It's basically like inbreeding, is what I'm saying.
Most expected to see fireworks when Manchester City visited third-division Cheltenham Town in the FA Cup on Saturday. Few expected they would be literal fireworks.
The FA Cup fourth-round match, which the Premier League side rallied to win 3-1, was suspended for five minutes late in the first half as a fireworks spewed above Jonny-Rocks Stadium on Saturday. The referee halted proceedings as some of the sparks actually landed on the pitch. Fortunately, nothing caught on fire, even if players were left bemused by the display.
Premier League coverage in the U.S. received a massive boost when it began appearing on NBCSN in 2013. Since then, Rebecca Lowe and Co. have brought the world’s most popular league to American living rooms bright and early every weekend, providing intelligent coverage of the beautiful game, never dumbing it down.
It’s all coming to an end.
Jordan Morris joined Swansea City on Friday on loan for the rest of the 2020-21 season, with the EFL Championship side retaining an option to buy the American striker permanently at the end of the campaign. The deal reinforces a recent trend: European clubs finding massive bargains in American players.
Newcastle United's French winger Allan Saint-Maximin is set to return following two months out after suffering the long-term effects of COVID-19, manager Steve Bruce said on Friday.
Saint-Maximin has not played for Newcastle since their 2-0 defeat at home to Chelsea on Nov. 21, but Bruce said he could feature in Saturday's Premier League game at Aston Villa.
The 23-year-old returned to light training last week.
Manchester City players will be getting changed in the bar at Cheltenham Town's stadium when they visit for an FA Cup clash on Saturday, but their fourth-tier hosts aim to make Pep Guardiola's men as comfortable as possible, manager Michael Duff said.
City, whose market value is estimated at over 950 million pounds ($1.3 billion) by specialist website Transfermarkt, play its fourth-round clash at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium where away teams have used the Victory Bar as a changing room during the COVID-19 crisis.
The FA Cup is one of football's most prominent cup competitions due to the tournament's proclivity for surprise upsets and underdog stories. Despite the absence of fan support, this season's FA Cup has still seen its share of upsets.
Four non-league clubs reached the FA Cup Third Round, but only one progressed to the next step in the competition
Manchester City’s first goal in its 2-0 Premier League victory against Aston Villa on Wednesday will go down as one of the most controversial goals of the season.
A goal had yet to be scored heading into the final 11 minutes of normal time. Controversy struck when a City player headed the ball up the field to no one in particular. The only City player nearby was Rodri standing in an obvious offside position.
When Newport County goalkeeper Tom King took a goal kick in a League Two game at Cheltenham Town on Tuesday, little did he know he would be writing his name into the Guinness World Records book for the longest goal ever scored.
World soccer's governing body FIFA says players who feature in any breakaway European Super League would be banned from playing in FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.
In a joint statement with European governing body UEFA and the other five continental confederations on Thursday, FIFA said they would not recognize any such breakaway.
